


My Hero

by TheGuestGirl



Category: Free!
Genre: A little angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Stargazing, Yaaaay, because angst is fun, idk when, possibly more tags to be added, takes place somewhere early in the first season, violence in the second chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 07:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4050736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGuestGirl/pseuds/TheGuestGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei and Nagisa enjoy their walks home together. They enjoy talking. They enjoy the little periods of silence.  They enjoy being together in general. It's too bad that one of them has to get into a REALLY bad situation for them to figure out how much they mean to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Hero

Rei smiled to himself as he walked home alongside Nagisa as the smaller boy chattered excitedly about swim club. Today had been their last indoor joint practice and they were scheduled to start swimming in their own pool the next day. His smile grew as he thought of how excited everyone was, especially the small blonde next to him.

Glancing sideways at said blonde, Rei felt the smile drop from his face. He felt the (all-too familiar) feeling of butterflies flapping around in the pit of his stomach. He’d been feeling that way for a while. He sighed and studied his feet, contemplating his emotions. No one had made him feel this way before. Then again, no one else acted the way Nagisa acted around him. He was always so open, so persistent at being friends. Most people were turned away by his cold demeanor. But Nagisa wasn’t. Why?

 He sighed again. Rei _did_ _not_ like not understanding things.

“…all right, Rei?” He started at the sound of his name. Nagisa had stopped walking, and was a few paces behind. Rei stopped as well. He adjusted his glasses to hide his embarrassment before turning to face Nagisa.

“I-I’m sorry, Nagisa-kun, what was that?” Rei asked, smiling sheepishly.

“You’ve been kinda distant today. I was wondering if something was wrong.” Nagisa repeated. The blonde was not wearing one of his usual smiles, instead looking at the blue haired boy in concern.

“No, nothing’s wrong! I’m just thinking about how happy everyone is at finally being able to use the school’s pool.” He rushed to reassure the blonde. He didn’t like it when Nagisa wasn’t happy. He liked it when Nagisa smiled. He liked the way it made his eyes light up, and how sometimes he would scrunch up his shoulders and cock his head to the side. Soft, golden hair would tumble about, framing his face in the most perfect way. It made Rei’s heart beat faster every time. _Yes, Nagisa. Something is wrong._ Rei thought to himself as he stared down at Nagisa’s disbelieving face. _I have a crush on the most beautiful boy I have ever met, and he thinks of me as nothing more than a friend._ He watched as Nagisa’s brow furrowed farther. He was cute even when he pouted.

“Hmm…” Nagisa said, striding over to the taller boy and standing on tip-toe to look him in the eye. “No, something’s wrong. I can tell! Now, what’s bothering you Rei-chan?” he asked again.

“U-um, well…” Rei said, backing up a step at the sudden close proximity. He let out a sigh. “I guess I’m nervous. You all swim so well, and I don’t even know how! What if I can’t learn how to swim?” he said truthfully. He couldn’t tell him what was really bothering him, so why not tell him the next best thing? He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his crush or his new-found friends. He saw Nagisa’s face soften, before it broke into the brilliant smile he so loved.

“Aww, Rei-chan! I know you can learn how to swim! I bet it won’t even take a week!” Nagisa exclaimed. Rei smiled back, glad he had managed to get the boy back to his usual smiling state.

“You’re right, Nagisa-kun! I’ll have the swimming theory memorized by tomorrow!” He said, straightening up and pushing his glasses up his nose. Nagisa laughed.

“Hey! What’s so funny? I’m serious!” He pouted. Nagisa’s smile simply grew wider.

“Rei-chan is silly.” Nagisa giggled.

They continued to walk toward Rei’s house. Rei noticed that Nagisa was quieter now. He wondered why.

Nagisa slowed his walking as they neared Rei’s block. He liked their little walks. He liked Rei’s company. He enjoyed the way Rei would patiently listen to him chatter on about this and that, not getting super annoyed like most people did. He liked the way he would chuckle slightly at his jokes, even the stupid ones. He liked Rei in general. Not that he’d let the taller boy know that, of course. Not yet.

Nagisa sighed happily, and stuck his hands in his pockets. They were walking on a rather dark street now, with not much but the full moon to light their way. He looked up at the sky, his smile of contentment evolving into a wide grin as he stopped walking.

“Rei-chan! Look how pretty!” he yelled, pointing up at the sky. It was a completely clear night, and despite the light pollution from the town around them, many stars could still be seen.

“Beautiful…” he heard the blue-haired boy gasp. Glancing over, Nagisa saw a rather dreamy smile appear on his friend’s face. His dark blue hair fell back from his face. His purple eyes glinted in the light of the stars and his pale skin seemed to glow. It was rare to see Rei with such a relaxed expression.

 _Beautiful indeed._ Nagisa thought.

They stood looking up at the stars for another few moments. Then Nagisa looked down at his watch and frowned. It was almost time for his curfew. He felt his lips draw together in a pout before looking up at Rei once again. Grabbing the arm of the other boy, he laughed and tugged at him gently so he would start walking again. Rei glanced down, and suddenly their eyes met. Both boys froze for a split second. Nagisa felt a blush creep up his cheeks and he was glad it was so dark. He quickly dropped Rei’s arm and looked away as they began walking again. He managed to walk a few paces more before giving in to curiosity and glancing back to Rei.

The other boy was once again looking up at the stars as he walked, seemingly absorbed in thought. Nagisa felt his blush return as he watched, and quickly looked down at his shoes before Rei could notice him staring.

They were walking up an older street now and the sidewalks were uneven. Nagisa noticed a large crack in the ground and turned around to warn Rei, who was still looking at the sky. Too late. The blue haired boy tripped. Flailing his arms about in an attempt to regain his balance, he nearly fell over. Nagisa rushed forward on instinct and caught Rei as he fell forward. Rei looked up, still being supported by the smaller boy’s arms, and their eyes met again. Nagisa hurriedly steadied Rei on his feet, blushing fiercely for the third time that night.

“Y-you should watch where you’re going, Rei-chan! You could have hurt yourself. You’re lucky I was here to save you!” Nagisa chided as he brushed some nonexistent dirt off of himself, obviously flustered. Rei rolled his eyes at his last statement, and crossed his arms. He wore an incredulous expression.

“You hardly saved me. The most I would have gotten was a few bruises. Maybe a scrape.” When the blonde boy glared up at him, he sighed. “But, thank you, Nagisa.”

The other boy beamed up at him… then proceeded to stumble over crack in the cement himself. Rei rolled his eyes again, and smiled fondly.

“My hero.” He muttered to himself, earning a teasing shove from the other. The two boys continued in comfortable silence the rest of the way to Rei’s house.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there we go. The end of the first chapter! this fic is also over on FF.net, I'm just re-posting it here with a little editing.   
> Hope you enjoyed! The next chapter should be up tomorrow, I just need to edit it a little.


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